Origins of Mother's Day

The custom of honoring mothers goes back at least as far as 17th-century England, which celebrated (and still celebrates) Mothering Sunday.

Mother's Day in the United States originated in 1872 with Julia Ward Howe, a writer, abolitionist, and suffragist who wrote the words to "Battle Hymn of the Republic." In 1911, President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday. In 2014, Mother's Day will be celebrated on May 11.